Football – Finland – Veikkausliiga
Saturday 2nd August 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Saturday afternoon brings us more action from the Finnish Veikkausliiga and a top half clash between hosts MyPa and visitors and league leaders, HJK Helsinki.
MyPa’s inconsistent results overall has seen them drop down the division to a mid-table position and losses away at VPS, Turku and FC Lahti has emphasised their struggles on the road so far this season where they’ve registered just two wins to date.
However, MyPa hold a pretty solid home record going into today’s match of 6-4-1 26/16 with their one solitary defeat coming at the hands of third placed Seinaejoen. But they’ve recently recorded back-to-back wins over Mariehamn 3-0 and KuPs 5-3 which should give them confidence in today’s clash against the league leaders.
Incidentally, MyPa have scored in each of their last 13 home matches on the trot whilst keeping just three clean sheets during this sequence.
Visitors HJK Helsinki are currently sitting on top of the Veikkausliiga some seven points ahead of second placed FC Lahti, and they’ve put together an astonishing 16 game unbeaten run which has earned them pride of place in Finnish football.
HJK also hold a solid record away from home where they’ve racked up stats of 5-4-1 16/9 on their travels so far. In addition, they’ve failed to score just once in their last sixteen away matches which is some record, and another key statistic for my pick in tonight’s match.
With these two clubs’ respective leading goalscorers in their ranks – Sihvola for MyPa and Savage for HJK (7 goals apiece), I think there’s a very good chance for both teams to hit the back of the net in this match, particularly when you consider MyPa’s home form and HJK’s record on the road. Could be a 2-1 win perhaps for HJK Helsinki as a possible scoreline.
Pick: Both teams to score – Yes @ 1.91 Coral
